Talk Talk

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This article is about the band. For the telecommunications provider, see TalkTalk.

Talk Talk
Hollis, Webb, and Harris in 1988
Background information
Origin	London, England
Genre(s)	New Wave Synthpop Post-rock
Years active	1981–1991
Label(s)	EMI Verve Records
Associated acts	'O'Rang Heligoland
Former members
Mark Hollis Paul Webb Lee Harris Simon Brenner

Talk Talk was a popular English music group that was active from 1981 to 1991. In mainstream circles, the group is most well known for their early synthpop/New Wave singles, including the international hits "Today", "Talk Talk", "It's My Life", "Such a Shame", "Life's What You Make It" and "Living in Another World". However, in the music community they are recognised more for the artistic achievements of their later experimental albums, recognised as forerunners to the post-rock genre.

1 Career
2 Band members
3 Discography
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Career

Although they were associated with the New Wave movement and bands such as EMI stable-mates Duran Duran, Talk Talk had a progressive depth their contemporaries lacked. With the addition of unofficial fourth member Tim Friese-Greene in 1983, who replaced Simon Brenner on keyboards, and became producer for the band, each successive Talk Talk release became more sophisticated and innovative.

They had a huge success in 1984/85 in continental Europe with the album It's My Life. The accompanying single "Such a Shame" (a song inspired by the book The Dice Man) became a big hit and a number one in several countries during this period, and an icon for many New Wave European listeners. But, strangely, this album and its singles were relatively ignored in their native UK, even though they maintained a substantial cult following.

They eventually abandoned the New Wave style completely with the minor classic The Colour of Spring in 1986. This became their biggest studio album success in the UK, partly thanks to the Top 20 single "Life's What You Make It", and was again a hit album in Europe, featuring another Top 40 single: "Living in Another World". More followed with Spirit of Eden (1988), an album founded on improvised structures and diverse, natural instruments (violin, harmonica) instead of a synth-driven, pop song mould. The album is widely regarded as the group's masterpiece, and one of the landmark recordings of the late 1980s; but it failed to chart as high as the previous LP.

After being released from EMI in 1990, they moved to jazz label Verve Records to release Laughing Stock in 1991, their final album. Laughing Stock crystallised the experimental sound the band started with Spirit of Eden (which has been retroactively categorised as "post-rock" by some critics). Laughing Stock adopted an even more minimalist style then its predecessor, but this did not stop it achieving a respectable Top 30 showing in the UK Albums Chart. With the band now released from EMI, the label decided to cash-in on the band's name and reputation (and make-up for the losses it made on Spirit of Eden) in the form of 1990's Natural History compilation. This proved a wise gambit as it went on to sell over one million copies in Britain alone and rose to number 3 in the UK album chart.

The 1984 single "It's My Life" was also re-released, and this time became the band's biggest success in their native country, making number 13 in the UK Singles Chart. Following up on this renewed popular interest in the band, the label released History Revisited in 1991, a compilation of 12 inch singles and alternative versions which made the Top 40, an unusually high showing for a remix album. A further EMI compilation The Very Best of Talk Talk was released in 1997 and is thought to be the most considered retrospective of their first four albums.

After Laughing Stock, Talk Talk disbanded, never to reform. Paul Webb and Lee Harris went on to form the band .O.rang, while Tim Friese-Greene started recording under the name Heligoland. In 1998, Mark Hollis released his eponymous solo début Mark Hollis, which was very much in keeping with the minimalist post-rock sound of Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock. According to Hollis' management, he has now retired.^{[citation needed]}

Webb also collaborated under the name of Rustin Man with Beth Gibbons and released Out of Season in 2002, while Harris featured on the Bark Psychosis 2004 album, ///Codename: Dustsucker.

In 2002 the song "Life's What You Make It" was featured in the Rockstar Games video game, Grand Theft Auto Vice City.

In 2003 No Doubt released a cover version of "It's My Life" which became a major international hit.

Brenner and Hollis received co-credits for Alex Gold's 2003 song "LA Today" (featuring Phil Oakey), probably due to a line being lifted from "Today" ("L.A. today, it's a dream away" versus "Today today, it's a dream away").

[edit] Band members

Original members included:

Brenner left the band in 1983, and was technically not replaced. However, producer/co-writer/keyboardist Tim Friese-Greene became a de facto fourth member of the band around this time, and along with Hollis, was responsible for the group's sound and direction. Friese-Greene did not generally play with the band during live shows; Talk Talk stopped playing live in 1986.

By the time of their last album in 1991, Webb had left the group. Talk Talk had by then morphed into what was essentially a brand name for the studio recordings of Hollis and Friese-Greene, along with a bevy of session studio players (including Harris).

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

The Party's Over (1982) : UK #21, US #132
It's My Life (1984) : UK #35, US #42, France #12, Germany #2, Italy #3
The Colour of Spring (1986) : UK #8, US #58, Austria #16, Italy #6
Spirit of Eden (1988) : UK #19
Laughing Stock (1991) : UK #26, France #26

[edit] Singles

"Mirror Man" (1982)
"Talk Talk" (1982) : UK #52
"Today" (1982) : UK #14
"Talk Talk" (1982, reissue) : UK #23, US #75, South Africa #1 (1983 release)
"Another Word" : Germany #25 (released as a single only in this country in 1984)
"My Foolish Friend" (1983) : UK #57
"It's My Life" (1984) : UK #46, US #31, France #25 (1985 release), Germany #33 (in 1985), Italy #7
"Such a Shame" (1984) : UK #49, US #89, Austria #2, France #7 (1985 release), Germany #2, Italy #1, Switzerland #1
"Dum Dum Girl" (1984) : UK #74, Germany #20
"Life's What You Make It" (1986) : UK #16, US #90, France #49, Germany #24, Italy #14
"Living in Another World" (1986) : UK #48, France #44, Germany #34, Italy #26
"Give It Up" (1986) : UK #59
"I Don't Believe in You" (1986) : UK #96
"I Believe in You" (1988) : UK #85
"It's My Life" (1990, reissue) : UK #13, Germany #49
"Life's What You Make It" (1990, reissue) : UK #23
"Such a Shame" (1990, reissue) : UK #78
"Living in Another World '91" (1991) UK #79
"After the Flood" (1991)
"New Grass" (1991)
"Ascension Day" (1991)

[edit] Compilations

Natural History: The Very Best of Talk Talk (1990) : UK #3
History Revisited: The Remixes (1991) : UK #35
The Very Best of Talk Talk (1997) : UK #54
Asides Besides (1998)
12X12 Original Remixes (2000)
The Collection (2000)
Missing Pieces (2001)
The Essential (2003)
Introducing (2003)

[edit] Live Album

London 1986 (1999, live) : Germany #46

Talk Talk - Today excerpt (file info) — play in browser (beta)
- An excerpt from the 1982 Today single
- Problems listening to the file? See media help.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

Guinness Book of British Hit Singles - 16th Edition - ISBN 0-85112-190-X
Guinness Book of British Hit Albums - 7th Edition - ISBN 0-85112-619-7
Guinness Rockopedia - ISBN 0-85112-072-5
The Great Rock Discography - 5th Edition - ISBN 1-84195-017-3

[edit] External links

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